Final Fantasy XVI

[Abu Antar]

PC market is bigger than before. The same goes for digital in general. But Nintendo has an iron grip on the Japanese market. There are weeks when there are 20 Switch games in the weekly top selling list.

If you look up numbers for popular Japanese video game series, you will see most of them are smaller. For instance, Team Asano games (Bravely Default 2, Octopath Traveler I&2, Triangle Strategy, etc) sales are basically saved by western sales. This goes for many other games as well.

My guess for Final Fantasy XVI sales in Japan was 450k copies. (I'm probably close to being spot on if you count digital) 15 years ago, I would have guessed at at least 800k.

 

[ADULF HITLOR FAN KLUB]

They could have also released it on PS4 to push sales, but Sony apparently paid SE a lot of cash to make the game a PS5 exclusive.

https://twitter.com/GameDataLibrary/status/1674436616306188288

 

[DJOGamer PT]

Kinda confirms my suspiction

You guys really need to put into perspective just how bad this console generation is - specially the PS5

The PS5 was released at the end of 2020
We are now in the mid of 2023
Nearly 3 years into this console's life - and on average consoles generations last 6 years
It has still sold less than the PSP, making it the second worst selling Sony console ever - shit, it has still sold less than the old ass Game Watch
It doesn't even have newer models announced, because there's still not enough sales of the originals models for them to improve production
Only now are AAA studios starting to move away from the, way past its prime, PS4 and they're only doing it because that piece of shit hardware just can't handle requirements anymore (something that was already obvious with CP2077)
And aside from a remake of a PS3 title, Final Fantasy XVI is its only big AAA system seller
Is the only reason anyone might have to buy a near 3 year old console system over its competitors is a game released not even 2 weeks ago and will only be exclusive for 6 months anyway

This is pathetic
The PS4 was laughed at for taking more than 1 year to be worthy of purchase
But this is a new low

With all of this in mind, those sales are fairly reasonable

 

[cruel]

You should take into consideration inventory issues that were present for 2 years, that made buying the console a pretty challenging task. This is not apples to apples comparison with PS4 release, at all. Covid probably didn't help as well with game releases / development.

Going back to FF XVI - I'm at around 34% done, 15h in. The high moments of the game are still 9/10 / GOTY category, but I need to admit the game is very uneven. The was a time (around levels 19-22) when the game became very slow / boring, almost filler territory - running around some swamps, killing crabs and bees, mixed with boring missions. Almost felt like one talented team was responsible for the main plot, and the other team did some of the side quests and less important areas. Game is still worth playing, but definitely a flaw on the overall experience.

 

[Raghar]

Consoles are crap. And now when they actually have backward compatibility, people are simply playing old games and don't jump as much as new stuff.

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

PC market is bigger than before. The same goes for digital in general. But Nintendo has an iron grip on the Japanese market. There are weeks when there are 20 Switch games in the weekly top selling list.

If you look up numbers for popular Japanese video game series, you will see most of them are smaller. For instance, Team Asano games (Bravely Default 2, Octopath Traveler I&2, Triangle Strategy, etc) sales are basically saved by western sales. This goes for many other games as well.

My guess for Final Fantasy XVI sales in Japan was 450k copies. (I'm probably close to being spot on if you count digital) 15 years ago, I would have guessed at at least 800k.

15 years ago a new Final Fantasy would’ve sold closer to something like 2 million in a week.

The Switch doesn’t really have the market over in Japan, it’s more that phones do. Switch still does good because it’s also a handheld, and Nintendo’s handhelds were selling extremely well even when their consoles weren’t (which is why the Switch happened) but mobile makes a killing over their.

 

[Delterius]

But accurate, IX was the last good one.

tactics was the only good one

 

[d1r]

But accurate, IX was the last good one.

Stranger of Paradise was the only good one

fixed for accuracy

 

[HeatEXTEND]

But accurate, IX was the last good one.

Stranger of Paradise was the only good one

fixed for accuracy

Explain, all I've seen is people saying the combat is shit, and it's all combat.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Nearly 3 years into this console's life - and on average consoles generations last 6 years

Although Sony had been releasing a new console every six years, it took eight years from the 2012 release of the PS4 for the PS5 to be released in 2020. Considering the slowdown in the advance of computer technologies, the average time between console generations might be expected to reach even higher, starting with the PS5.

 

[d1r]

But accurate, IX was the last good one.

Stranger of Paradise was the only good one

fixed for accuracy

Explain, all I've seen is people saying the combat is shit, and it's all combat.

Not sure who told you that, but combat in this game is absolutely amazing/satisfying, and there are so many classes and weapon styles to choose from. Also, music is great, and the boss fights are an absolute joy (with bosses learning new moves and tactics the higher you go in difficulty).

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

Kinda confirms my suspiction

You guys really need to put into perspective just how bad this console generation is - specially the PS5

The PS5 was released at the end of 2020
We are now in the mid of 2023
Nearly 3 years into this console's life - and on average consoles generations last 6 years
It has still sold less than the PSP, making it the second worst selling Sony console ever - shit, it has still sold less than the old ass Game Watch
It doesn't even have newer models announced, because there's still not enough sales of the originals models for them to improve production
Only now are AAA studios starting to move away from the, way past its prime, PS4 and they're only doing it because that piece of shit hardware just can't handle requirements anymore (something that was already obvious with CP2077)
And aside from a remake of a PS3 title, Final Fantasy XVI is its only big AAA system seller
Is the only reason anyone might have to buy a near 3 year old console system over its competitors is a game released not even 2 weeks ago and will only be exclusive for 6 months anyway

This is pathetic
The PS4 was laughed at for taking more than 1 year to be worthy of purchase
But this is a new low

With all of this in mind, those sales are fairly reasonable

Cyberpunk 2077 running like shit on the PS4 on release isn’t a PS4 problem, it’s a CD Projekt Red problem. If Red Dead Redemption 2 can run on PS4 without a problem, there’s no reason Cyberpunk 2077 should’ve released with all the problems it did. Although I played it on PS4 last year, and I didn’t run into any visual problems post patch until around the end of the game many many hours into it.

Sony really shouldn’t have even been thinking about releasing a PS5 until PSVR2 could’ve been something out of the box with it...and that’s pre Covid. Microsoft isn’t even really competition, so whether or not Microsoft put out their Xbox Series X wouldn’t have mattered. They would’ve been better off releasing some like a handheld version of the PS4 to compete with the Switch than doing the PS5 at the end of 2020.

 

[Machocruz]

Kinda confirms my suspiction

You guys really need to put into perspective just how bad this console generation is - specially the PS5

Which is to say how bad this software generation is, i.e. current generation games are failing to generate the same amount of interest as previous generations. Console is just a means to get to the games, if the console isn't performing that means the games are not performing. But the analysts and Youtube nerds don't go there, they act like it's the reverse. They don't want to say or can't see all the media accolades and forum chatter they are so invested in, what they think makes a game "good", don't mean shit when it comes to the numbers.

FF suffers from diminished cachet without expectations adjusted in kind, or at best it's popularity has remained stable and not grown with the growing gaming population, and it suffers from the poor software environment, which it can do nothing to boost at this juncture because it cannot push the hardware by any significant degree.

 

[jaekl]

This was the longest game of all time, it just kept going and going. In the last 3rd, the boss encounters get *really* annoying. It’s reminiscent of Dark Souls 3 and Elden Ring where they hold their hands up menacingly for 2 minutes then release the attack and land it in the blink of an eye. Meanwhile, you’re being blinded by flashing disco lights and the arena is covered in AOEs. Every boss fight, I was just being bullied and thrown around the arena like a ragdoll. That said, I only died twice in the whole game so, though it’s extremely annoying, you’re not in any danger of losing because you can heal while in the process of having your ass apocalyptically stamped into the ground.

After 8 hours of credits, you unlock new game+ and hard difficulty. I don’t know what kind of depraved maniac is going to play through the whole game twice. It was alright though overall, kind of like playing an HBO tv show season.

 

[HeatEXTEND]

Explain, all I've seen is people saying the combat is shit, and it's all combat.

Not sure who told you that, but combat in this game is absolutely amazing/satisfying, and there are so many classes and weapon styles to choose from. Also, music is great, and the boss fights are an absolute joy (with bosses learning new moves and tactics the higher you go in difficulty).

Just shreds I read here and there, but ok fuckit I'll give it a go.

Had a look at the first couple hours of FFXVI and it looks like the fucking witcher lmfao.

 

[mord]

minor spoilers I guess

 

[DJOGamer PT]

Almost felt like one talented team was responsible for the main plot, and the other team did some of the side quests and less important areas.

Most likely that is what really happened during development

If Red Dead Redemption 2 can run on PS4 without a problem

While RDR2 is technically more impressive than CP2077
The latter's world map is more dense with assets on screen at any given moment
Isn't that supposedly more intensive to run?

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

Almost felt like one talented team was responsible for the main plot, and the other team did some of the side quests and less important areas.

Most likely that is what really happened during development

If Red Dead Redemption 2 can run on PS4 without a problem

While RDR2 is technically more impressive than CP2077
The latter's world map is more dense with assets on screen at any given moment
Isn't that supposedly more intensive to run?

I’m not sure Cyberpunk 2077 is more dense with assets. It has big buildings, but I don’t think there’s more characters wondering around, and the characters that are wondering around in 2077 aren’t doing more complicated things than the AI in RDR2 or GTA5.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

but combat in this game is absolutely amazing/satisfying

It's sad that playing FF16 just makes me wish I was Jack Garland; and had his buddies too.

Can't believe they make you go through the whole game with a single weapon type. Sheesh.

 

[Falksi]

FFX was the final bitter chapter in the demise of the final fantasy name.

It was literally the same formula as most 16 & 32 bit era entries before it, bar a smidging of exploration.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

I’m not sure Cyberpunk 2077 is more dense with assets. It has big buildings, but I don’t think there’s more characters wondering around

Comparing the scenes in free roam videos (even including the saint denis city in RDR2), CP2077 does have more npc's on screen
CP77 also has more light sources and more reflective surfaces
I think all that must be harder to render...

FFX was the final bitter chapter in the demise of the final fantasy name.

It was literally the same formula as most 16 & 32 bit era entries before it, bar a smidging of exploration.

This one also seems structured like what I remember from the classic titles
You start in a hub, you can explore a few other areas near it (either to grind or do some innocuous side-quests), you complete the current main quest, fight a boss, watch a long unskippable scene which advances the plot and with that over, the game opens up a new area in the world for you the repeat the cycle until the credits roll

 

[HeatEXTEND]

bar a smidging of exploration.

Overworld maps are cool and fun tho.

 

[Elthosian]

You should take into consideration inventory issues that were present for 2 years, that made buying the console a pretty challenging task. This is not apples to apples comparison with PS4 release, at all. Covid probably didn't help as well with game releases / development.

Idk man, the Switch has had a solid offer of games in the last three years and the future looks pretty nice. I could list at least 5 games worth getting a PS4 for (even after Sony started porting to PC), yet the PS5 which costs almost triple the price only has FFXVI, Demon’s Souls remake, the always online microtransaction shiftest of GT7, and a bunch of VR games, with most multiplatform titles being released on the PS4 too. If Sony wasn't able to keep up with the ridicule costs associated with cutting edge graphics they should have gone down the Nintendo path and released PS4++ with some weird gimmick going for it.

Comparing the scenes in free roam videos (even including the saint denis city in RDR2), CP2077 does have more npc's on screen
CP77 also has more light sources and more reflective surfaces
I think all that must be harder to render...

Isn't a GTX 1060 able to run that game at 60 FPS in medium settings? Dunno why it would have been impossible to do the same in a PS4. It's more likely that they were over-stretched having to manage the PC version and 5 console ports...

 

[Great Deceiver]

Comparing the scenes in free roam videos (even including the saint denis city in RDR2), CP2077 does have more npc's on screen
CP77 also has more light sources and more reflective surfaces
I think all that must be harder to render...

Isn't a GTX 1060 able to run that game at 60 FPS in medium settings? Dunno why it would have been impossible to do the same in a PS4. It's more likely that they were over-stretched having to manage the PC version and 5 console ports...

Not a GPU issue, but a CPU issue. The PS4's Jaguar CPU is horrendous, even by standards of the time.

 

[scytheavatar]

Question: how should Square Enix react to Baldur's Gate 3 outselling FFXVI? Which seems like an almost certain outcome? Cause we were told by Yoshi-P that turn based combat is dead. Should Square Enix add sex with animals in their next FF game?